


Play Pretend

by DarkMoonFairy



Category: Batman: The Telltale Series (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, request
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 00:21:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20218699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMoonFairy/pseuds/DarkMoonFairy
Summary: The look Regina gave him said it all. The way they were holding each other really gave the impression that they were boyfriends rather than just friends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternative timeline. Which means that a lot of things are gonna be diffrent from "canon".  
Also this is a request work, if you have requests as well feel free to follow me on my tumblr nietopesh and sending a dm or submission :3

Breaking into his own company wasn’t something that Bruce could have ever imagined doing in a lifetime. The whole situation was just so absurd! First, he finds out his parents worked together with the mafia, then he gets drugged and thrown into Arkham, which was a terrible experience. If it hasn’t been for John, he would have been beaten up and tasered by the other inmates on his first day. And sure, he promised John to do a favor for him as a thank you for helping him escape, but by that he meant something like lending money, or helping him get a job once he’s out of Arkham. Legal stuff, and not being part of a criminal pact that is going to get John send right back to Arkham.

The green haired man really enjoyed his freedom, even though he admitted to feeling out of place. It would be a shame if he were to be locked up after only a few weeks, because of the “friends” he made.

Bruce really wished he could pull John aside and explain to him that he was in danger, that these people – whoever they were – most likely didn’t care about him and only used him to get the job done. That once this whole thing was over, he would be left with nothing and in more trouble that he could handle. What John needed was some real friends who would actually look after him. A normal place to stay and a job so he could live a normal life.

But that was nearly impossible. Waller gave him the order to get inside the pact and spy on them and if he didn’t, she would reveal his identity to the whole world. So now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand he had to do everything to keep his identity secret and stop the pact from causing more harm. On the other he really didn’t want to lie to John and use him. The poor guy looked up to him and was convinced that they were friends – which they were! But friends didn’t use and lie to each other. He even pinky swore on that.

Maybe he should be called Ratman, considering that he kept lying to John all the time and using their friendship to get information for Waller – even if he didn’t want to!

He entered Wayne Enterprises and friendly greeted the guard sitting behind a desk.

Since he was the head of the company no one would get suspicious as to why he could go inside and out at any given moment. The whole building belonged to him basically. At least it made the job easier and no one would get suspicious or hurt.

Now he only had to use the elevator to get to his office and get the phalanx key, before giving it to Harley, hoping she wouldn’t use it to cause _too_ much trouble.

He was about to push the button to get to his floor when he heard a “Hi, buddy!” behind him.

Shocked, Bruce turned around to see John slipping inside the elevator next to him before the doors closed.

“What are you doing here?” Bruce angrily half whispered to John, who just leaned back against the wall grinning.

“You see… Harley wasn’t sure if you could be trusted yet and told me to keep an eye on you.” He came up to Bruce patted his shoulder. “I mean, I told her that it wouldn’t be necessary! You’d never betray _me_, but she insisted… So here I am!”

For a moment Bruce just stared at John, not knowing what to do. He couldn’t just kick John out, that would be just rude and get them into more trouble than necessary. But he also didn’t want to let him accompany him… Why did these things always happen to him?!

“How did you get past the guard?” he asked frowning. He really hoped John didn’t hurt him in any way… This situation was getting worse from minute to minute!

“Hey, don’t worry buddy,” John said smiling, as if he knew what exactly Bruce was thinking about, trying to ease his mind. “I just sneaked past him. He didn’t even see me. Maybe you should hire better security.”

“Alright, you can come with me,” Bruce said after a while. At least John was easier to handle that Harley. He had a feeling that Harley wouldn’t have just sneaked past the guard… “But don’t do anything suspicious, alright?” he said and pushed the button for his stop. The elevator started moving up.

“Of course, of course…” John assured and laid his right hand over his heart. “Scout’s honor.”

Maybe this operation wouldn’t be as disastrous as Bruce thought. John really seemed to try to make this as ordinary as it could get.

Both leaned back against the wall, waiting for their stop to arrive. Bruce didn’t miss that the other tried to get as close as possible. He didn’t mind though. John didn’t have anything bad in mind. He most likely wanted to be closer to his friend, which Bruce welcomed.

The head office of Wayne Enterprises was in one of the highest floors in the whole building. That meant that they had a few minutes to wait, since the building was the tallest in the whole city. It was enough time to think about his “missions” and how to get John out of all the trouble that will definitely happen in the near future. John wasn’t inherently evil, Bruce knew that. He was just a little bit misguided and innocent from time to time, naively following Harley’s orders thinking that she cared for him, because he was blinded by his love for her.

Harley wasn’t a good person. She was that kind of person that would sweet talk her way out of things and then do whatever she wanted. That, or just smash her opponents head in so she wouldn’t have to deal with them. Other than Bruce, she outright manipulated John to be her loyal puppy, the way she talked about and to him. It was disgusting. Bruce wished he could tell John all of this, but how? He risked losing John to Harley if he didn’t believe him and endangering his chance to get accepted into the pact… The whole situation was a mess.

Suddenly the elevator stopped, and the door opened to reveal Regina standing in front of them. Awesome… Just awesome, that’s exactly what they needed!

The older woman looked at John first, his green hair and eccentric clothes having caught her attention as well as his nervous giggles. Then her gaze shifted to Bruce and her face lit up positively. “Oh, Bruce, I’m surprised to see you. – And this is…?” She gestured to John who hid his smile behind his hand.

“This is John Doe. My friend,” Bruce said and gestured between them. “John, meet Regina Zellerbach, my chairwoman.” Hopefully Regina didn’t notice the light falter in his voice. If she did, she didn’t comment on it, however.

“It’s nice to meet you, John,” Regina answered and politely shook John’s hand. Bruce hoped they wouldn’t have to share the elevator for long. He noticed how nervous John was getting at meeting Regina and trying not to burst out in giggles again. At least he was trying and for that Bruce was thankful.

“Bruce never talks about any of his friends,” the woman then commented as the doors closed and she pressed the same button as Bruce did before. What a coincidence, Bruce thought and had to suppress rolling his eyes. “So, it’s nice to see him with someone else than work-related colleagues and business partners. He’s a real workaholic, hosting the next charity event and trying everything to make Gotham a better place.” Regina continued.

“Oh, I’m sure of that,” John replied and put his arm around Bruce shoulder, kind of awkwardly hugging him from his side. Not knowing what to do with his own arms, Bruce just put his around John’s waist and oh god… No… That’s not what it was supposed to look like!

“Bruce always wants the best for everyone,” John then continued, “He’s like… The best guy ever! Always looking after everyone and wanting the best for the people he cares about!”

Well, now it was too late anyway. The look Regina gave him said it all. The way they were holding each other really gave the impression that they were boyfriends rather than just friends.

“If you don’t mind me asking… How did the two of you meet?” Regina asked next.

Before Bruce could have said anything, John cut him off: “After Bruce beat up that Cobblepot guy and got send to Arkham, some other inmates wanted to hurt him, and I saved him!” John told her enthusiastically, “Once I heard that Bruce Wayne – _the_ Bruce Wane – was getting transferred to Arkham I just _had_ to meet him. I’m so glad I did… You see, I’ve been collecting tabloid pictures of him other the years…”

Regina just smiled at them even though she was probably trying not to judge John for being an ex-patient from a mental institution. “Well, people find love in the most unexpected places, don’t they?” she told them.

Now it was Bruce’s turn to cut of John who most likely tried to protest. He grabbed John’s hand and entwined their fingers. “I’m glad I did,” he replied and smiled at John, but it didn’t quiet reach his eyes. Nonetheless John got the message: Don’t say anything. Let me handle the talking now.

The ding of the elevator that alerted them to reaching their stop interrupted their conversation and the door opened for them. Regina got out first, while John and Bruce stayed behind. “What the hell was that?” John whispered angrily into Bruce’s ear. “You know that I love Harley!”

“Yes, yes, I know…” Bruce whispered back and got out of the elevator as well, following Regina. “But listen, she jumped into conclusion and I just panicked, all right? Just play along, I don’t want anyone to get suspicious…” Their hands were still entwined, neither of them letting go yet. “Please, John…”

The other just sighed and clenched his hand around Bruce’s lightly. “All right… But you own me one,” he answered and winked at him. He probably couldn’t imagine how relieved Bruce was at the moment. He could have hugged the other man for being such a godsend but that would be most likely a bad idea.

Regina waited for them for a moment, probably thinking that they were whispering some lovely dovely things to each other, the way she was smiling at them. “I’m glad that Bruce has found his significant other. After all, a good relationship is good for one’s health, especially when said person must handle a lot of stress from work,” she continued talking while they caught up to her. “It’s nice to see that Bruce has found someone that cares for him, and that you both aren’t ashamed to show it. Nowadays it’s important to stand up for love and tolerance…”

Not that Bruce didn’t agree with her, but the fact that she talked about a nonexistent relationship made the whole thing awkward. The only thing he could do was smile and play along. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t wish it was true… Holding John’s hand felt really extraordinary and he couldn’t help stroking his thumb over the John’s knuckles. The other didn’t seem to mind. John’s hand was soft, softer than any other woman’s he had been holding hands with. But at the same his grip was firm and his fingers a little bit bony.

It felt different from any time before. Maybe because this time it was with someone who genuinely cared for him. Not some model that was after a good time and reputation. Not Selina who always did everything for herself. But his best friend who liked him for who he was.

And while John told Regina about how awesome his “boyfriend” was, Bruce had to remind himself that this was all just play pretend. Nothing more. John didn’t feel anything for him. The whole thing was just a cover up because John didn’t know how to handle other peoples’ personal space and was way to overenthusiastic when talking about the people he liked. Once they were out of Wayne Enterprises, they would go back to the way things were before. And it didn’t matter how many other employees – mostly cleaners and secretaries passing by – they passed on the hallway to Bruce’s office saw their boss holding hands with a mysterious green haired male. It was all just play pretend.


	2. Chapter 2

Luckily it didn’t take long for them to reach Bruce’s office. They told Regina goodbye, who had to take care of some business task, and quickly closed the door after them.

For a moment Bruce just stared at the closed doors and took a deep breath to calm down. Damn… That was close. It surely wasn’t what he had planned to happen. John and he were just supposed to get the kay and get out before anyone saw them. Now it was far too late. Not only did he tell his chairwoman of having a boyfriend, some other employees saw them as well and everyone knew how fast rumors spread in Gotham, especially about him. At least no one got hurt.

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt John gently slip his hand out of his grip. Bruce opened his mouth to say something, apologize, explain the situation, anything. But John didn’t even pay mind to him. He just walked around the office looking at everythingwith childlike wonder. “So, where is that secret lab I heard about?”

For a moment Bruce was shocked and at a loss for words until he collected himself. “How do you know about…?”

John started touching and scanning his shelfs, most likely looking for some secret entrance like in an adventure movie. “After Cobblepot took over your company, he told Harley about it. And Harley told me.” He looked back at Bruce. “Can I open it? Pretty please?”

He looked at Bruce with a soft smile and puppy eyes. How could he say no to him? The secret was out anyway. Bruce could always just change the location of the lab to somewhere else and as well as all the ways to get inside. “You see that chessboard there?” As John turned around and went to stand next to it, Bruce continued: “Just switch the king and the tower.”

John did just that and only a second later the secret door opened. “How awesome!” the green haired man exclaimed excitingly and ran inside the elevator. Bruce joined him. “This mission is so exciting, Bruce!” he continued with glee and waited for Bruce to press a button. The door closed and the elevator moved down.

“I’m happy that you feel that way,” Bruce replied as he looked at John who could hardly contain his excitement. He kept giggling to himself and looking around the elevator until his gaze landed on Bruce.

“You know, I think you’re the closest friend I ever had.”

That statement shouldn’t sound as sad as it did to Bruce. He was probably his only friend considering that Harley treated him like a dog and the rest of the pact were criminals. And criminals don’t do friends.

Unfortunatly, Bruce never got to reply to John, as the elevator stopped in front of his lab and John practically jumped out of it and walked around the room marveling all the secret tech, not knowing that it was all for Batman and not Bruce Wayne.

“Where is the giant crater?” John asked. He sounded suddently disappointed. “I thought this was where your friend went out with a bang!”

Ouch, that hurt… Maybe one day Bruce would sit John down and explain to him that statements like these were rude and inappropriate. Thank god only he was around, because he couldn’t imagine the reaction of someone who was more sensitive about Lucius’ death than he was. Not that it didn’t hurt… But the guilt overweighed his pain. Losing his parents made him somewhat numb to loss. Probably because deep inside it was an ever-present fear of his that he had to deal with all the time. Working as Batman and cleaning up the streets of Gotham from criminals helped, but it only went that far.

“That was upstairs, in his office…” he decided to answer.

“Well, whatever. Where is that phalanx key, anyway?”

“It should be in the vault…” Bruce pointed at the closed door. He tried to open it, but it was locked.

“And what now?” John asked annoyed. “Harley is gonna be mad if we don’t get her what she wants…”

While he talked, Bruce walked around looking for Lucius’ ID card that normally would open all the secret doors in Wayne Enterprises. Now he only needed a fingerprint…

“Hey, John, we need a fingerprint, can you help me look for some things that Lucius most likely touched?” he asked his the other.

“Sure thing, Brucie!” John replied. It didn’t take long for them to find everything they needed to recreate Lucius’ fingerprint. A little piece from his coffee mug, a different one from the door handle, the last one from a photograph of his family.

Once they were done and Bruce managed to open the door he told John to wait for him and “Please, don’t touch anything.”

“Oki, doki. Got it,” the other answered and showed him thumbs up.

The raven went into the vault. It was dark and gloomy. He hasn’t been here ever since Lucius had died. The atmosphere was depressive and heavy, and Bruce could swear he felt the presence of another person. Probably Lucius’ spirit haunting the lab and blaming his death on Bruce.

The phalanx key was nowhere to be seen, however. Strange, he could swear they left it here last time Lucius and him needed to use the lab and vault.

“Looking for this?” he heard a whisper behind him and nearly jumped out of his skin. Tiffany stepped out of the shadows, holding a gun and pointing it at Bruce, holding the phalanx key in the other. “I told you I’d find out what you got my dad mixed up in.” She took a few steps closer. “This… This is much worse than I thought. Why do you have a secret room full of weapons? What’s going on here, Bruce?”

“Bruce, what’s talking so long in here?” he heard John call after him. Bruce thought about telling Tiffany to maybe hide behind the shelves, but it was too late. John entered the room, which cause her to shift her gun to point at him, which he totally ignored as he saw her. Tiffany quickly hid the phalanx key in her pocket when his attention was on her. Surprisingly, he reacted positively to seeing another person with them. “Hey, I know you! We met at your father’s funeral.”

Nonetheless Bruce grabbed his arm and whispered his name as a warning. He better leave Tiffany out of this and not harm her. He knew that John trusted him, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t harm Tiffany, especially after the incident at the funeral.

“Ok, Bruce, no need to get physical,” the green haired male just answered and frowned at Bruce as if he didn’t understand why the other would react like this.

Damn it, Bruce didn’t have time for this. “Just don’t tell Harley. It can be our secret.”

“Well, I don’t like lying to Harley, but I’ll do it for you Bruce.” Well, that was easier than expected. “But I really need that Phalanx key, who knows how long Harley’s patience will last, before she comes up to check on us…”

“You can have the key, just leave Tiffany out of it, ok?”

At that Tiffany took out the device she was hiding inside her pocket. “You mean this thing?” she accused them, showing the phalanx key and glaring at Bruce.

“That’s it!” John yelled and clasped his hands together in excitement, not at all caring about Tiffany’s glare.

“You’ve got to be kidding Bruce. You can’t get these psychos anything from this lab,” the young woman then scolded him, not at all caring about insulting John.

At that the other ceased smiling and it was now his turn to frown at Tiffany. “Hey, no need to get personal… After all I’m his boyfriend.”

Bruce had to suppress hitting himself in the face. Shit, he totally forgot about the whole fake boyfriend story… And John had to use it just now, when talking to Tiffany.

It wasn’t a surprise that Tiffany got mad at him. “This is a joke, right? Of all the people you could have dated it had to be _this_ guy?”

And what was he supposed to say to her now? He knew how much Tiffany disliked John after disrespecting her father at the funeral, even if it was not intentionally. Contradicting John wouldn’t help him either. The young woman wasn’t stupid, she’d catch onto them in no time, considering that she already managed to break into his secret lab. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, other than a stutter of: “Yes… I mean – It’s not… -“

“Well, it was your idea…” he heard John mutter under his breath and thank god that Tiffany didn’t hear him well enough to realize the real meaning behind his words.

Bruce closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Now he had to deal with the mess that he made.

“Yes, I know. It’s just… Yes, he’s my boyfriend. You can trust him.” Bruce decided to plead with her: “Please Tiffany, I’ve been with you every step of the way. I just need you to trust us.” He really hoped that this would work, and Tiffany would believe him. They were already on thin ice as it was.

After a while Tiffany sighed and lowered the gun before giving him the key. “I better not see this on the evening news.”

“Thank you. This makes it so much better for everyone.” John told her and left the room, not once looking back at her.

Now that they were alone Bruce hoped that she could hear the sincerity in his voice. “Thank you, Tiffany. You made the right call.” Then he left as well, leaving a hurt and cross armed Tiffany behind. 

However, Tiffany wasn’t just done yet. “Bruce, you better watch out who you fall in love with,” she called after him. If only she knew…

They were walking down the hallway of Wayne Enterprises, the phalanx key safely tucked away in Bruce’s pocket, holding hands again and politely smiling at everyone. Fortunately, most employees had to make it in time to their meetings and had too much to think about than paying to much attention to them. “That went well.” John commented, as they went back to the elevator. “Harley’s gonna be so proud of me.”

For some reason that made Bruce mad. He tried not to show it, but… The fact that John was only thinking about pleasing Harley made him a little bit jealous. 

Before they left the building they made sure to let go of each other so Harley wouldn’t see them holding hand and most likely put a bullet into Bruce’s brain. He didn’t doubt that she would do it in broad daylight right in front of all the bystanders in her anger. And then she would get revenge on John and he was the last one to deserve to deal with her wrath. Better safe than sorry.

In silent understanding they both agreed that none of them would ever talk about this ever again, least of all in front of the other woman. Bruce gave the phalanx key to John who was keen on giving it to Harley himself. Well, if it meant so much to him…

They saw Harley standing by the stolen car, leaning back against the door and crossing her arms in annoyance, waiting for them. She was scowling, even when John waived happily at her and crossed the street without really looking out for cars to get to her.

Thank god there wasn’t much traffic today. One car honked at him as it drove by but that was it.

“That took you long enough.” She said and let her arms fall to her sides. “I hope you got me what I wanted.”

“Of course, we did, Harley! It was super easy,” John answered and handed the device to Harley who’s face lit up with a smile.

“Thanks a lot, puddin’!” the said with her high-pitched voice and stroked John’s green hair. “You made mama proud.”

Well that just sounded fake and cringy in Bruce’s opinion but John looked overcome with happiness at being complimented and he rather not say anything wrong that might upset Harley or John. Let them have their “moment”.

“You also did great, Mister Moneybags,” the blonde then addressed Bruce and boxed him lightly in the shoulder. “I think you convinced me that you have what is necessary to be part of our pact.”

“Guys, maybe we should get some slushies to celebrate!” John chimed in and opened the driver’s door to sit in the car.

“Great idea, puddin’! All that waiting made me thirsty again.” Harley agreed and sat down next to him in the passenger seat. Even though Bruce wasn’t that happy about going anywhere with Harley close to them he just smirked at them and sat down as well in the backseat.

“But this time I’m paying,” he told them jokingly.

In the end they just had drove to the drive thru of some café and ordered there. And while he didn’t mind buying John whatever the man wanted, Harley had shamelessly exploited the fact that Bruce was rich and paying for them. At least they didn’t steal anything again. That was a plus and he got to be on Harley’s good side again.

It was night when Bruce had finally arrived at the Wayne manor.

He saw Alfred sitting on one of the sofas in the living room, so he sat opposite of him and leaned back. He was tired.

“I was keeping an eye on you over the security feed,” Alfred mentioned as he straightened up.

Bruce sighed. “Well, breaking into my own company was… unexpected.”

“Are you sure that telling Regina that you and John are dating was a good idea?”

No, no it wasn’t. It was a terrible idea. “I needed a cover up so Regina wouldn’t get suspicions. She already had the impression because John kept complimenting me and talking about how “awesome” I am. I panicked and just said he was my boyfriend so it wouldn’t get any weirder.”

“Do you really think that was the right move?” Alfred pressed. “Not only did you lie to your employees, at least five have seen you holding hands in the hallway. And you know how fast rumors spread. How do you think the media will react once they find out that John isn’t just an ex patient from Arkham but also a member of a criminal gang as well?”

He was right, and Bruce hated it when Alfred was right. It always made him feel like a little boy that needed a lecture from his father on something that he very well knew the answer to but didn’t want to admit it.

He didn’t doubt once the media got wind from Bruce Wayne holding hands with another man they would jump on the topic like vultures and start wild speculations about his sexuality and love life and whatever that would get them the most attention from.

Damn it, sometimes being Bruce Wayne had its disadvantages. Other than the whole story with his parents being criminals and destroying other peoples’ lives, of course.

“Don’t worry Alfred, I’ve got everything under control. This was a one-time thing; it won’t happen again. I can just say that we broke up or something.” He tried to assure his father figure. The last thing that Alfred needed was more stress. He should lay down and relax, maybe drink some tea and read a book, not be worried about the mistakes Bruce made.

The bat-signal caught his attention. He was needed somewhere else now.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a native speaker, so I apologize if there are any mistakes. Feel free to point them out. Comments are welcome as well and very much appreciated :3


End file.
